News: 8-second Street 2015 Mustang

Street Feat

Melissa Urist runs the first 8-second pass in an S550 with a stock PCM & IRS

By Steve Turner
Photos courtesy of Hellion Power Systems

With every new vehicle platform there is a drive to set milestones. People look to enter the zeitgeist by staking a claim to a record. In the world of Ford performance being the first to eclipse a quarter-mile e.t. or setting a high watermark on the dyno with a new Mustang are the most coveted records to attain. Doing both is a sure way to make a mark.

Melissa Urist’s Hellion turbocharged 2015 Mustang gets the job done so smoothly and efficiently that she didn’t even know she had run the first 8-second pass in a stock-PCM S550 until she looked at her time slip.

As we recently reported, Melissa Urist’s 2015 Mustang recently became the most powerful 2015 Mustang around by rocking the rollers at The Dyno Edge in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with an amazing 1,135 rear-wheel horsepower! This was hot on the heels of Melissa making her race debut in the Turbo Coyote Shootout at the NMRA World Finals in Bowling Green, Kentucky, back in October of 2015.

In preparation for the event, her husband, John Urist, told us they simply upgraded the differential, tweaked the car’s transmission tuning, and raised the boost by a couple of pounds. From the driver seat it didn’t feel much different, but the mods were definitely an improvement.

Not much has changed about Melissa Urist’s engine combination since it laid down 1,135 horsepower on the chassis dyno, save for a bit more boost. Her 2015 Mustang GT is upgraded with an MMR short-block wearing a Hellion Eliminator twin-turbo kit that pumps out about 25 pounds of boost courtesy of two 55mm turbos.

“Everything in the car felt the same, it actually was really, really easy to drive. It still blows my mind how smooth such a fast pass felt!” Melissa explained. “Since the day we bought this car, I’ve always felt like the car and I have just fix together like a puzzle piece. It’s such a dream to drive and it’s even easier to race. It goes A to B smoothly, goes fast and most importantly, I’m having a ton of fun in a street car!”

Clearly these changes were effective, as Melissa ran the first sub-8-second pass in a 2015 Mustang with a stock Powertrain Control Module, which seems to be a key factor formany people to consider an S550 a “real” 2015 Mustang. It also features a stock Independent Rear Suspension bolstered by Steeda’s bolt-on upgrades. With this combo, she ran a stout 8.90-second run at 155.72 mph, and thanks to our friend Brian Warcup’s videography, you can watch the pass right here…

Here’s another angle from Redmaro Productions…

To withstand the twin-turbo power, the car’s factory Super 8.8 already had rugged halfshafts from The Driveshaft Shop, and in advance of SCSN Hellion upgraded the rearend with Wavetrac differential. The rear suspension is upgraded with a full complement of Steeda bolt-on gear.After stepping up the boost to 25 psi, refining the transmission tuning, and adding a new differential, Melissa Urist was able to run an 8.90-second pass in her 2015 Mustang street car.

“Unreal! When I got the timeslip I couldn’t believe my eyes!” Melissa enthused. “I was so proud of the car, my team, all the people who helped make this happen. I immediately wanted to get back into the car and do it again. The best part of this whole ordeal? I don’t have to load my car at the end of the night when racing is done. I can take us out to dinner and to the store!”

Now Melissa’s orange 2015 Mustang is the most powerful on the street and one of the quickest modern Mustangs around. And, it’s definitely worth noting that this car is still running the base Hellion Power Systems Eliminator turbo system with two 55mm turbos. We can only imagine what it is capable of with Hellion’s larger 64mm offerings boosting the car’s built Coyote engine.